PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron is due to host European leaders on Monday (Feb 26) or a conference aimed at strengthening Western support for Ukraine, two years into the Russian invasion.
The meeting in Paris will be a chance for participants to “reaffirm their unity as well as their determination to defeat the war of aggression waged by Russia in Ukraine”, the French presidency said.
It also signals Macron’s eagerness to present himself as a European champion of Ukraine’s cause, amid growing fears that American support could wane in the coming years.
“Battered and bruised, but still standing. Ukraine is fighting for itself, for its ideals, for our Europe. Our commitment at its side will not waver,” Macron wrote on X, formerly Twitter, to mark two years since the conflict broke out.
For Macron, the conference is also a chance to show European autonomy in security matters, which he called for even before the invasion.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish President Andrzej Duda will be among some 20 European heads of state and government present at the conference, which will be opened by a video address from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Other states will be represented at ministerial level, with Foreign Secretary David Cameron travelling to Paris for Britain. The United States and Canada will also be represented.
Source: CNA
